Where data-viz began: a brief history of infographics

This article was taken from the January 2014 issue of Wired
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The infographic reigns supreme today, but in 1920s and 30s
Germany, Fritz Kahn struggled for
his work to be accepted. "Popular science illustration was
basically simplified textbook illustration: the images served the
text and weren't very interesting," says Uta von Debschitz, who,
with her brother Thilo, has compiled a new book about Kahn. "The
complexity of what he tried to convey demanded new means such as
images and metaphors." His innovations were not appreciated in his
homeland, though -- he fled the Nazis, who banned and burned his
books.

Von Debschitz says that his legacy is more relevant now than
ever. "We're in a similar situation to Kahn and his contemporaries:
new technologies and media give access to increasing sources of
knowledge, while the information itself becomes increasingly
complex."

The nervous heart, 1939
The images show a man engaged in six types of activity. Above
are the corresponding pulse rates of healthy, nervous and
sick hearts.

The monthly clock of the woman, 1931
Kahn's infographicshows how, in the quarterly division of the
month, the uterus goes through a cycle similarto that of the
Moon.

Anatomy of potency, 1930
These images were used in a promotional brochure for Testifortan,
a hormone pharmaceutical. The product was later sold as Titus
Pearls.